fell in a peaceful dance, but their perfection could be torn apart by the fury of the storms. Spring meant renewed life and hope, yet could bring dead ly floods. In the summer, the sun shone bright ly , regaling the humans with rich crops and pleasant weather. But the same rays could be destructive and cause drought and famine. And at last, autumn gifted the world with generous produce, on ly to take it all away when furious hail and rain fell. Similar ly , Ohsyn and his lovers could protect and do harm at the same time. In this particular moment, Ohsyn’s dark side was emerging.
Visnah got up and set himself between Ohsyn and Ly etah. “Calm down. Arguing won’t help us.”
“At least it’s something,” Ly etah shot back. “I can’t bear listening to you, all resigned and accepting.”
Ohsyn gritted his teeth at Ly etah’s unreasonable accusation. “And what would you have me do? Die? Do you think Alexei would want us to do that ?”
“No,” a sudden voice said. “I wouldn’t want it.”
Ohsyn turned toward the pyre once more. The dying flames seemed to materialize into a figure until final ly , they revealed Alexei’s shape. He looked like an avenging angel, his entire body ablaze, yet still so very beautiful.
Alexei stepped down from the pyre, his eyes burning coals fixed on them. “Thank you for having the strength to save me. I don’t think I could’ve done this in your place.” The flames began to melt until at last, they revealed skin. “Thank you for everything,” Alexei whispered.
Ohsyn lunged forward, saving Alexei from collapsing to the ground. Instinctive ly , he pressed his lips to Alexei’s forehead, just wanting to feel the other man was there, safe. As he did so, he realized Alexei’s skin temperature had normalized. Striking ly , even if he’d come out of a pyre, Alexei seemed all right.
But beneath the appearance of normality, Ohsyn did feel the change. Alexei’s mortality had been traded for a higher level of existence. Ohsyn couldn’t identify it, not yet, but he sent a prayer of thanks and apology to the Goddess. They never should have doubted. The Goddess wouldn’t have given them Alexei if She intended to take the youth away.
Alexei gave him an exhausted look. “Please, don’t fight,” he said. After a short pause, he asked, “Eva?”
Ohsyn’s heart fell. How would they tell Alexei they’d frozen his sister alive? He saw no easy way to do it, so he gent ly took Alexei in his arms and carried him there. Alexei tensed when he saw his sister inside the icy coffin. “Is she dead?” he asked, his voice trembling.
Ohsyn did n’t know the answer to that question. For a few terrible minutes, he’d been convinced of Alexei’s death. To his surprise, an image flashed through his mind, giving him the requested answer. A princess, trapped in a prison of ice, to be rescued by her fated soul mate.
“Her spirit is sleeping,” he told Alexei. “But she can and will be awakened. We just need to find the right person to do it.”
“Her true love,” Ly etah explained. He seemed to have recovered from his earlier distress. Together with the others, he joined Ohsyn and Alexei next to the coffin.
In Ly etah’s eyes, Ohsyn read the same desire to feel Alexei he himself had experienced. Ohsyn handed Alexei to Ly etah. “I’ll make some arrangements for her to be taken care of. Worry not. All will be well.”
Ly etah seated Alexei against one of the trees with Zimah and Visnah joining him. They all gave him troubled looks, obvious ly reluctant to let him go. Ohsyn smiled at them. “I will be back soon. Miliy moi , get some rest. You need it.”
Alexei nodded, his eyes already closing. As the young man dozed off, Ohsyn lifted Eva’s coffin in his arms. It was heavy, but Ohsyn had no real trouble carrying it. He wished he could have used magic to transport it, but alas, it was too risky with her inside.
He chose a spot at the outer edge of the grove for her resting
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